1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display apparatus, and more particularly, to a plasma display apparatus, which can reinforce the ground portion of a circuit board by directly connecting a protection plate to the ground portion of a circuit board for protecting a Tape Carrier Package (TCP).
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, an abundance of flat display devices, which replace Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs), have been developed. These flat display devices typically include Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs), Electro-Luminescent Displays (ELDs), Field Emission Displays (FEDs) and Plasma Display Panels (PDPs).
PDPs display an image by a plasma discharge. PDPs have an advantage in that they can realize a perfect digital image as well as a large size screen more easily than other flat display devices.
Such PDPs are composed of a filter assembly, a panel, a thermal conductive sheet, a chassis base, a circuit board, a connecting member, a protection plate and various kinds of additional devices, which are arranged inside the front/rear case.
Referring to the FIG. 1, a chassis base 15 supports a panel 12, which displays an image, at the rear of the panel, and a circuit board 16 (for example, an address buffer board) is fixed to the rear of the chassis base 15 and then transfers a driving signal to the address electrode of the panel 12. The address buffer board 16 transfers a driving signal to the panel by a connecting member, such as a Tape Carrier Package (TCP) (not shown in FIG. 1). Reference number 14 indicates a reinforcement that prevents the deflection of the chassis base. The reinforcement 14 further provides a driving chip to be mounted in the TCP with a place to be loaded.
A protection plate 18, which protects the TCP, is fixed to the chassis base 15 by a linking member 19. The protection plate 18 is in contact with the driving chip to be mounted in the TCP, either directly or with a coated connecting line of the TCP, and thus radiates heat generated by the driving chip.
Furthermore, the ground portion of the address buffer board 16 is electrically connected to the metallic chassis base 15 by a conductive linking member 17, thereby allowing the chassis base 15 to perform the ground function. Also, the protection plate 18 is electrically connected to the chassis base 15 by the linking member 19, thereby allowing the protection plate 18 to perform the ground function.
However, the address buffer board 16 needs to supply a high voltage to an address electrode inside the panel 12. Therefore, it is very important to ground the address board stably, because it affects the capability and quality of the PDP.
According, since the protection plate 18 is in contact with the ground portion of the address buffer board 16 directly and not indirectly via the chassis base 15, the ground of the address board 16 can be reinforced, thereby allowing the noise inflow into the address buffer board to be reduced.